Psalm for Sunday, May 1, 2016

Reflections

Psalm 67: 2-3, 5, 6, 8  (Read)

“May God be gracious to us 

and bless us; may God's face 

shine upon us.”

So much that God does for us is 

contained in this opening verse of 

the Psalm.  God gives us his grace 

through his son Jesus, who is our 

Savior.  And we all want God’s 

blessings, as the Psalm says. 

Since the time of Moses, God’s 

chosen people have reached out 

for God’s blessings.

God gives us material blessings –

all our treasure and gifts are from 

Him.  And thankfully, He gives us 

spiritual blessings as well – 

as St Paul tells us, to each individual

the manifestation of the spirit is given 

for some benefit. (1Corinthians 12:7)

No wonder that we Gentiles were 

attracted to the faith, when St Paul 

and St Barnabas were traveling 

through the towns and visiting

the early churches.

And what could be better than 

to have God's face shine upon us, 

as the psalmist says. We have a hint 

of what the radiance of God's face 

may be like in Sunday's 2^nd reading, 

where St John speaks of the light of 

God's glory that shines in the

city of heaven. (Revelation 21:11)

By ministering to the Gentiles, 

the 'way' of the Lord became known

upon earth among all the nations, 

as the Psalm says. Indeed the

Psalm predicts that God’s saving 

power shall be known among all 

the peoples. Thankfully,

that includes us.

Today we join with our psalmist 

and the members of the early 

church in praising God –

“May the peoples praise you, O God;

may all the peoples praise you.”

Amen

Discussion Questions for Reflection
   
1.  Our psalmist asks that God will let His face shine upon us.   

Tell of how you have felt the radiance of God when He is present to you.

2.  The Psalm prays that the Lord's 'way' be known among all nations.   

What have you done personally to encourage others to follow the 'way' of the Lord? 

Psalm for Sunday, April 24, 2016

Reflections

Psalm145: 8-9, 10-11, 12-13  (Read)

“The Lord is good to all and

compassionate toward all his works.”

When we reflect on what God has

done for us, we remember that God

has always done good things for us.

That is God's nature. As the Psalm

says, “The Lord is gracious and

merciful and of great kindness.”

And so we pray this psalm to bless,

praise, and exalt the heavenly Father

in his perfection and in his works.

Our psalmist dwells on the everlasting

nature of God, on his love and presence

throughout all time, and we are called

to praise the Lord forever. Our psalmist

reminds us, “The Lord is good to all

and compassionate toward all his works.”

We know this inherently because we live

our lives with an unending stream of

divine love.

There are times when we may question

why God allows us to suffer, why He allows

“bad things to happen to good people.”

We may ask, as the early believers probably did,

“Why is it necessary to undergo such hardships

to enter the kingdom of God?” (See Acts 14:22)

Afflictions go hand in hand in our walk

with the Lord. We may not understand

what God is up to, but we can be sure that

our faith will be strengthened if we stand

fast in the face of suffering. We will become

better witnesses for Christ as we are humbled.

We become better servants if we bear up

with our difficulties and trust in the Lord,

as our psalmist tells us.

Endurance is a Godly quality and will help

us to get 'yoked' to Jesus. Having done that,

we, like our psalmist David, join with the

faithful and speak of the glory of God's reign

and bless His name.

Amen

Discussion Questions for Reflection

1.   The Psalm says, 'Let all your works give you
thanks, O Lord.'    Are you one of His works?   Tell
of how you give thanks to the Lord and bless Him
as one of His faithful ones.

2.   Our psalmist speaks of the everlasting nature of
God's divine love.   Describe how God's love has helped
you to overcome hardship and get 'yoked' to Jesus.

Psalm for Sunday, April 17, 2016

Reflections

Psalm 100:1-2, 3, 5  (Read)

"We are God's people,

the sheep of his flock."

The Psalm begins with a call for us

to 'sing joyfully to the Lord.'  That

same joyful spirit filled St Paul and

his companions when they began

their ministry to the Gentiles that 

day in Antioch. (Acts 13:14, 43-52)

And their ministry has become our 

ministry – as our psalmist says, 

we are called to 'worship the Lord 

with cries of gladness; come before 

Him with joyful song.'

But after all, we are like sheep, and 

we need someone to look after us 

so that we don't go astray.  What 

could be better than to have Jesus

as our Good Shepherd?  We are his 

lambs; we hear his voice; He knows 

us; and we follow Him.

As our psalmist says, we belong to God.

And God has given us to his Son. No one

can take us out of his hand, as Jesus tells 

us in today's Gospel. (John 10:27-30)

We are a well tended flock indeed.

As our Lord's sheep, we hear his voice, 

we follow Him, and we praise Him because,

'Good indeed is the Lord, his love endures 

forever, his faithfulness lasts through every 

generation.'

Amen

Discussion Questions for Reflection

1.  There is something comforting about being shepherded by
our Lord Jesus.  Our psalmist says we are 'the flock He tends.'
Speak of how you feel to be one of His sheep.

2.  The Psalm tells us to 'serve the Lord with gladness.'   Give an
example of how you are serving Him with a joyful spirit.
 

 

Psalm for Sunday, April 10, 2016

 Reflections

 Psalm 30: 2, 4, 5-6,11-12, 13  (Read)

“I praise you, Lord, 

 for you raised me up.”

This is a Psalm that Jesus himself 

might have prayed, following his 

resurrection: “I praise you, Lord, 

for you raised me up and did not 

let my enemies rejoice over me.”

Our Lord Jesus was raised up

from the pit by the Father, even 

though He bore the weight of our 

sins.  “Lord you brought me up 

from the netherworld; you let me 

live, from going down to the pit.”

God’s anger over the sins of all men,

that Christ took upon himself, lasted

but a moment -- “Divine anger lasts

but a moment; divine favor lasts 

a lifetime.”

The Psalm speaks to us as we take part

in the joy of Easter. The joy of the resurrection

comes to us at dawn, after a terrible night,

as it came to those early followers of Jesus.

“At nightfall, weeping enters in, but with the

dawn, rejoicing.” And that alone is reason 

enough to change our mourning into dancing.

The Psalm concludes with praise that is

worthy of the Lamb, and recalls for us the

voices of the angels that St John speaks of in

today's 2^nd reading from Revelation 5:11-12,

“O Lord, my God, forever will I give you thanks.”

Amen

Discussion Questions for Reflection

  

1.  Our psalmist says that God's anger lasts but a moment, while His favor 

lasts a lifetime.   Give an example of how you have been blessed by God's 

favor after having fallen away for a time.

2.  The Psalm speaks of changing our mourning into dancing.   Tell of how the 

resurrection of our Lord has lifted you up and brought within you a rejoicing of the spirit.